VIC Feed-in Tariff 2018-19 Consultation

*** Submissions have now closed ***

Have your say on the new draft feed-in tariffs for Victoria

The Victorian energy and pricing regulator is seeking submissions on their new draft feed-in tariffs, including a peak period tariff of 29c/kWh for rooftop solar exports back into the grid.

The Essential Services Commission (ESC) has proposed setting two different solar feed-in tariffs (FiTs) from 1st July 2018, of which retailers must offer at least one:

a single rate feed-in tariff of 9.9c/kWh at all times, and/or

a time-varying feed-in tariff, see table below:

Time-varying minimum feed-in tariff -- draft tariff rates:

Period

Weekday

Weekend

Minimum rate (c/kWh)

Off peak

10pm - 7am

10pm - 7am

7.2

Shoulder

7am-3pm, 9pm-10pm

7am - 10pm

10.3

Peak

3pm - 9pm

n/a

29.0

The introduction of a peak tariff for rooftop solar is a huge development, given that all solar tariffs up till now have been structured on a flat rate. It could change the way consumers think about their solar assets, and encourage battery storage. This article provides further analysis on the proposed changes.

Can you make a submission to the ESC? Here are some points you may wish to consider:

The ESC expects that the offering of a “time-of-use” solar tariff will become compulsory over time, but there will be a transition period where retailers can offer a “single rate” FiT.

The single rate tariff is well below the 11.3c/kWh tariff currently in place and even lower than the 'shoulder' rate offered on the time-varying FiT. If left to retailers to decide, will they end up only offering the single rate tariff with decreased benefit to solar owners?

You may wish to include any personal examples about your solar systems and experiences with feed-in tariffs.

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